Artists are associated with a profile level. During their career, an artist may remain on one level or bounce back and forth between two. Many factors may determine the level of an artist, such as their design, their personal story, or how extensively they have been exhibited.

Artists are associated with a profile level. During their career, an artist may remain on one level or bounce back and forth between two. Many factors may determine the level of an artist, such as their design, their personal story, or how extensively they have been exhibited.

“The Dreamtime is the mythological representation of what Aboriginal people carry in their minds. The source of life! This knowledge has not just been planted in their minds, it is taught and structured through initiation and ceremony.”- Professor A.P. Elkin, Professor of Anthology, 1920’s-1930’s.

“The Dreamtime is the mythological representation of what Aboriginal people carry in their minds. The source of life! This knowledge has not just been planted in their minds, it is taught and structured through initiation and ceremony.”- Professor A.P. Elkin, Professor of Anthology, 1920’s-1930’s.

Wild Child Exhibition

26 Jan - 9 Apr 2018

Wild Child features the fluid, sinuous works of Barbara Weir, Sacha Long Petyarre and Delvine Petyarre, exploring the untamed, wind-swept plant life that brings out these artists' wild side.

Grass Seed

Barbara Weir is one of Australia’s leading artists and her artworks have been collected and exhibited around the world for over two decades.

Her predominate body of works straddle two major identifiable Eastern Desert painting styles; that of a highly intimate and painstaking dot technique, and that of a conceptual style which represents her Grass Seed Dreaming.

These paintings consist of a series of small brush strokes that overlap and weave to create a swaying effect like that of native grass, however this 'grass' is actually a small, ground-hugging herb known as pigweed or munyeroo (Portulaca oleracea) that only grows to around one metre in diameter.

Still, Barbara is able to conceptualise the herb and liberate its life-force from its tousled appearance.

Pencil Yam

Like Barbara Weir, Delvine Petyarre paints in two distinct styles. Her gestural works which are featured in this exhibition embody the spirit of the atnwelarr (pencil yam).

The atnwelarr is a native trailing herb that will cover large areas of ground after significant rain.

Its luscious bright green leaves bring the bush to life. Delvine's works capture the untamed movement as the atnwelarr emerges from the ground and sweeps across the desert floor.

In the right conditions, small yellow flowers will bloom and tubers (pencil yams) will be found beneath the surface which are a delicious and once important food source.

Pictured is Dolly Mills Petyarre in a field of wild growing pencil yam leaves.

Wild Flowers

In a similar style, Sacha Long Petyarre's paintings capture the windswept temperament of the bush but her inspiration is drawn from alpety (wild flowers).

There are numerous varieties of alpeyt in the outback. Some spread their beauty for fields and others sprout up as explosions of colour or lone shoots in an otherwise desolate area of land.